The new year brings new loyalty program devaluations, with the latest being IHG, followed by… IHG. I think Hiltonization is an apt description, as it seems the goal is to create a reward currency with a more or less consistent value regardless of where it’s redeemed. Obviously, that’s bad news for value maximizers like us, though it’s probably good news for the accounting and finance teams at IHG.

I was curious about just how many devaluations there have been over the years, so I did a little digging:

That’s all I could find. But here’s something interesting: Pointbreaks have been around at least since 2008, and they have been a consistent 5,000 points per night during that time. That’s almost 10 years! They may even go back farther than that for all I know. Everybody knows that Pointbreaks aren’t as good as they used to be, and that’s been the case for years now. But it’s interesting that Pointsbreaks remained steady for a decade despite yearly devaluations. In fact, given that IHG hadn’t changed the price of Pointbreaks, they had to devalue the quality of the available hotels. And that, boys and girls, is why Pointbreaks aren’t as good as they used to be.

(Note: I started this post in early January, but then went on vacation shortly thereafter and forgot about it. These are my actual words from before the changes: “Fiddling with Pointbreaks seems like an overdue idea for IHG. In fact, I’m going to make that a prediction for 2018: IHG will make one or more substantial changes to Pointbreaks. They’ll raise the cost from 5K to 10K or they’ll add new tiers or something like that. They’ll market it as a way to increase the quality and variety of hotels, and in fact it actually would do that, but it will ultimately make the awesome 5K deals far and few between.” That prediction would have been ridiculously timely had I actually finished my post. Lesson learned: don’t procrastinate.)

Something else has remained steady for a long time: the fact that IHG cardholders get a “free” night with their credit card good for any hotel. Now, they don’t necessarily make a lot of inventory available for this “free” night, but in theory it’s good anywhere and in practice it is indeed not too difficult to get good value for your $49/night annual fee… and that makes me think that this free night benefit is going to be devalued sooner rather than later. Either they’ll put a category cap on it, as with Marriott and Hyatt, or they’ll raise the annual fee. Or heck, maybe both.

The IHG credit card sometimes offers an 80,000-point bonus (and has even had a targeted 100,000-point bonus), and this card does not appear on Chase’s feared 5/24 list. Which means that, in theory, it’s churnable. The free night doesn’t kick in until your second year, but since Chase limits you to one bonus every two years you could get the bonus, use the free night in year 2, cancel the card, and repeat. The question is, would you want to?

On the one hand you’ll get 80,000 points, which are good for one luxury night with a few points left over, but then you also have a minimum spend, an extra credit pull and new account, and the possibility of Chase adding the card to the 5/24 list during a time when you don’t have it. Obviously the 80,000 points can get you more than one night if you set your sights lower but while some gems remain even some of the mid- to lower-tier IHG hotels are getting expensive, points-wise. So I personally don’t think churning it is worth the trouble, but that’s just me. As always, YMMV, especially if they start messing with the annual fee and/or free night benefit.

Most credit cards are made out of plastic–it’s cheap and resilient, so what’s not to like? But if you want to differentiate yourself from the hoi polloi, metal cards are an easy way to do so. They’re also an expensive way to do so, which is why metal credit cards are for premium products. Let’s take a look at the metal credit cards out there.

Chase Sapphire Preferred: It’s not Chase Sapphire Preferred week anymore, but still: the CSP is the most famous metal card, the most popular one, as well as the cheapest with an annual fee of $95 (waived the first year). Though I’m obliged to point out that it’s not metallic all the way through–it’s actually metal sandwiched between layers of plastic. Still, it’s got more of a heft than most cards. And let’s not forget it’s high-end counterpart, the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

Chase Marriott: Chase does like the metal cards, don’t they? Unfortunately they all come with annual fees. In the case of the Marriott card, the annual fee gets you a “free” category 1-5 room every year, but I don’t think it’s worth it.

Chase Ritz Carlton and Chase United Club: We’re not done with Chase yet! They do like their metal credit cards, don’t they? The Chase Ritz Carlton can be a good deal if you snag the 140K offer. Andy has some good posts about this card here and here, while Travel Is Free just put up a solid post on another use of Marriot points you may or may not be familiar with.

Oh yeah… that’s palladium and 24K gold you’re looking at. You signature will be laser-etched onto it. But it’s got a $595 annual fee, and even if you’re willing to pay that, you have to have a private banking relationship with Chase, which would apparently involve at least $250K in assets. The benefits aren’t great: 2 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent on travel, 1 point everywhere else. There’s also a 35,000-point bonus if you spend $100,000, plus the requisite concierge (reputedly quite good) and some other benefits.

Amazon Prime Rewards card: Metal cards tend to be high-end products since it’s expensive to make metal credit cards (and to replace them when you lose them or the number gets stolen). If you want a metal card without an annual fee, give this one a look.

U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve: U.S. Bank’s 2017 entry into an increasingly crowded premium travel card market, it has some decent benefits plus a good sign-up bonus that can make it worth signing up for a year.

Amex Centurion: The gold standard of exclusive credit cards, this card is informally known as the black card, thus the lawsuit I just mentioned. It’s made of titanium and boasts an initiation fee of $7,500 plus an annual fee of $2,500 (but they still charge you a $38 late fee if you miss a payment). The card is invitation only. Amex won’t divulge its criteria, but eligibility is apparently based on things like income, spending, and possibly fame. If you’re eligible for the card, they’ll let you know.

Yes, that’s gold trim on the top and the left with a diamond embedded in the center. No, there’s no “First Friday” with this card as there is with the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

Pure + Solid MasterCard debit card: If you’re a fool with too much money, these cards would be worth looking into. There are platinum, gold, and silver cards, each crafted using their eponymous metals, which is why the Platinum one will set you back $38,690.

Your Own Customized Metal Card: I had no idea this company existed, but apparently the good folks at Metal-CreditCard.com will convert any credit card you want into a metal credit card with a design of your choice for $149. Here’s one possible design from the company’s website:

This would be a great design to do manufactured spending with! What clerk is going to tell you they won’t accept a card like that?

The downside is that if your credit card number happens to get stolen, you’ll have to pay $149 for a new card.

Comenity credit cards don’t get much press in the points-n-miles world since most them are cobranded offerings with small retailers, but they can be valuable to hardcore fans of those stores as well as to people trying to rebuild their credit. I thought it would be interesting to take a more comprehensive look at their offerings to see all that they have to offer in one fell swoop.

A couple of notes before we begin. First, note that Comenity Bank credit cards can sometimes be obtained via the shopping cart trick, which is a way to get a credit card without a hard pull. I’ve noted below which cards you can do this for any cards I’m aware of, please comment if you’ve had luck with the SCT. Second, you can get multiple cards from them, and the vast majority have no annual fee. I’ve only got a couple myself, but a couple of commenters below report having more than ten. And they also report that you can get credit line increases every few months without a hard pull. So if you’re looking to rebuild credit, take a look at Comenity cards.

I used this list on MyFico as my starting point. It’s a little outdated, so I’ll add in a few others I’m aware of. If I leave any out, or if I’ve missed any benefits of any of these cards, please let me know in the comments. Let’s start with the two Comenity credit cards I have:

If you can find a gas station willing to sell you gift cards, the Marathon Visa is potentially one of the most lucrative credit cards out there. I explained here why falling gas prices and Comenity’s odd rewards scheme mean rising rewards for cardholders. Currently, the rewards are around 10%, but only if you’re able to spend $1,000 in a month at Marathon, and most Marathon stores either don’t have gift cards or else won’t sell them to you with a credit card.

I have the Fuel Rewards MasterCard as well, but I haven’t found it to be particularly valuable. The rewards aren’t great and you don’t get much in the way of good offers once you’re a cardmember. You can skip this one and focus on cards with better gas rewards.

As for the others:

The BJ’s MasterCard can be a pretty good value depending on how much you spend at BJ’s. Lucky for you I ran the numbers to see exactly what level of spending to make the card worthwhile, so go here and take a look. Note that if you’re on BJ’s email list you can get a preapproval for this one, though I don’t know what the credit limits will be like.

The Bed, Bath, and Beyond MasterCard recently moved from US Bank to Comenity. The card itself is not much to speak of: you get 5% back at BBY, but only 1% back on everything else, plus 2% on gas and groceries which is nothing to write home about. If you’re not spending ridiculous amounts of money at the store–and I really hope you’re not–I can recommend about a hundred other better cards. I’m not aware of whether they’re in the habit of sending out marketing incentives to cardholders, if anybody has any experience please comment below.

The Sportsmans Guide Visa issued by Comenity bank often has 4x or 5x promos.I can remember at least 3 in the last year and a half. I think one in November was unlimited. Their store has a far wider variety of products than Banana. I wonder if their Gander Mountain card has similiar promos.It is a good second card for those building credit, before moving on to premium cards.

And commenter Tia writes below: “I just got the Sportsman Guide Visa with a soft inquiry using the SCT. It only wanted the last four of the SSN. I’m 14 months post BK. They soft pulled EQ 652 score and credit limit is $3,500.”

Gander Mountain MasterCard: I had never heard of Gander Mountain before learning of this card’s existence; turns out it’s an outdoors store. You can get three points per dollar on all purchases there plus an additional two per dollar if you spend more than $10,000 per year on the card. I went to a Gander Mountain store to see if they had a gift card rack, but I did not see one. Out of curiosity, I recently got this credit card, see my review here for details. UPDATE: This card is dead in the wake of Gander Mountain’s demise. I did end up turning the $60 sign-up bonus into a very nice cast iron frying pan.

Total Rewards Visa: This is the Caesars casino co-branded card. I wrote about it here, and it seems to have some potential if you’re into that sort of thing. Scott at Travel Codex has a good rundown of the Caesars loyalty program.

MyPoints Visa: I’m not familiar with the MyPoints site, which is apparently some sort of deal site / portal where you get rewards for buying stuff. You get one extra point for every dollar spent through MyPoints. Their website advertises 1 pt / $ on Amex gift cards, and it looks like points are worth two thirds of a cent as best as I can tell. Is 1.4% back on Amex GCs worth it? I never mess with those things so I have no idea.

Farmers Insurance Visa: I recently reviewed this card as well. One interesting thing about it is that you can get 3X rewards on your insurance payments, although of course you are limited to getting this rewards on Farmers Insurance products. It’s also got a 3X bonus on home improvement, which is not something that a lot of cards have. But unless you’ll be spending a lot of money in those areas, this card probably isn’t worth it.

Orbitz Visa: This card can be useful if you use Orbitz a lot. The card lets you earn 10% back on hotel bookings if you use the Orbitz app (8% if you don’t). The card also gives you gold status in the Orbitz program, which may be good for a few benefits, and also gets you a little closer to Platinum status, which gets you a few more benefits. And Gold Status is also helpful for Best Rate Guarantee claims as well.

Victoria’s Secret card: This one may be worthwhile if you’re a big shopper at Victoria’s Secret; it’s also rumored to be an easy one to get via the shopping cart trick. Read my review here.

I looked at the Toyota and Lexus Visas right here. Bottom line: you can safely ignore them if you’re just looking for credit card rewards. Commenter Anthony reports getting approved despite low scores: “I got approved today for the lexus visa through comenity. 750 CL. Scores were 545-562-550. Dont know what CR they pulled, but income most likely played a part in getting an approval. Its low, but its a start.” If you’re curious about other automotive credit cards, I’ve got a list here.

I don’t have any familiarity with the Buckle credit card, one commenter below reports: “I used the SCT a couple of years ago with them and they have increased me on their own 4 times out of the blue.” So perhaps it may be good for credit building? You also get a $5 reward every year for your birthday. And commenter Lori reports getting the card with the shopping card trick.

Thanks to commenter Genelle below for pointing out she received three Comenity store cards via the shopping cart trick: Ashley Stewart, Avenue, and HSN. Commenter Darla says that to get the pop-up for the HSN card, you need to register there and enter a credit card number while you’re in the shopping cart.

I wrote here about the Saturday Night Live MasterCard (edit: the card was eventually cancelled). The intriguing hook on this card is 4X the points on entertainment purchases on Saturdays. Entertainment includes gambling / casinos, and I don’t know of any other product that pays out that kind of bonus on that category. Unfortunately I can’t tell how much the points are worth from Comenity’s website, and I’m hours from any casino anyway. The right person with the right idea (and with a great deal of self-control and no proclivity to gambling addictions) might be able to do pretty well racking up credit card rewards, though.

Believe it or not, a lot of readers have asked me to write up the Victoria’s Secret credit card. And by “a lot of readers” I mean “Elaine in the comments last week.” So here you go, Elaine! Let’s take a look at the features, and please keep in mind that this is a store card valid only at Victoria’s Secret, not a Visa/MasterCard/Amex.

Sign-up bonus: The Victoria’s Secret credit card gives you $15 off your next purchase. $15 is less than the $500 rewards that major credit card issuers frequently offer for their products, so the pink credit card is not a winner on this count.

Rewards: The Victoria’s Secret credit card offers different tiers based on your spending on it. You can see full details here. For both the Angel Card and the Angel VIP card (which you get by reaching $500 in spend), you get $10 for every $250 spent. For the Angel Forever card ($1,000 spent) you get $15 for every $250 spent. That works out to a rate of 4% or 6% in the highest tier.

But wait, there’s more: during your cardmember anniversary month, you get triple points! So that boosts this card to 12%/18%. AND you also get double points on all bra purchases. Does that get multiplied with the triple points bonus and bring the rewards to 24/36%? And does Victoria’s secret sell prepaid Visa gift cards? I don’t know, though I’m pretty sure the answer to the second question is “No.”

It looks like there are other triple point promotions as well, and the fine print on that one says, “Triple points offer cannot be combined with additional bonus reward point promotions.”

Annual Gifts: Certain retail cards give you a bonus every year on your birthday. This one gives you a $10 reward.

The Shopping Cart Trick Factor: Since this is a Comenity retail card, you should be able to take advantage of the shopping cart trick to get it without a hard pull.

Interest Rate: Really high. Please don’t carry a balance.

The Bottom Line: If you spend lots of money at Victoria’s Secret, the Victoria’s Secret credit card is probably a pretty good card to have. Otherwise, not so much.

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Attention residents of Charlotte and nearby areas:@bretbourgeois and I are having a points/miles/reselling/whatever meet-up next Saturday, June 2, at 1pm at DeSano Pizzeria (note: this is the one at 3rd and Torrence near uptown). All are welcome! We’ve done a couple of these before, I think we had around 8 to 12 people. Nothing formal is planned, […]

Five years ago I started blogging so that I could share awesome deals with friends and family. Let me be clear: my intentions in creating this blog were 100% noble and altruistic. Filthy lucre was the farthest thing from my mind.As it turns out, I am really good at the business of blogging. I convinced […]

The new year brings new loyalty program devaluations, with the latest being IHG, followed by… IHG. I think Hiltonization is an apt description, as it seems the goal is to create a reward currency with a more or less consistent value regardless of where it’s redeemed. Obviously, that’s bad news for value maximizers like us, […]

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